Hawk attacked my chickens today.

[ChocolateMouse]

I'm sorry. I know that hawks can be awful. I'm glad your bird is safe!

It's illegal to shoot the hawk without a permit.

Wanted to say this too after reading the post. Even if it's in the act of attacking your birds shooting one is a federal crime with jail time and up to 50K fines. State law can't override this.

https://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-13.pdfThis is what you need to kill one. In To have it considered you have to include info on;

"What hazing or harassment techniques (e.g., horns, pyrotechnics, propane cannons) have you used to manage or eliminate the problem? Of these tools, how often and how long did you use these deterrents (e.g., number of weeks, months, year(s))?
What habitat management measures (e.g., vegetative barriers, longer grass management, fencing and netting) have you used to discourage depredation by birds?
What cultural practices (e.g., crop selection, crop placement, animal and pet management, feeding schedules, and no-bird-feeding policies) have you established to discourage depredation in the areas you have identified? "

AND

"A depredation permit is not considered a long-term solution for most situations. What long-term measures do you plan to take to eliminate or significantly reduce the continued need for killing or removal of birds, or destroying eggs/nests? Discussing how you will continue to use the non-lethal deterrents described in question 5 above can help with answering this question. (Recall that no permit is needed to remove nests without eggs, except for eagles and endangered birds.) "

It's something to consider seriously. This DOES however mean that you can harass or haze hawks away from your property using most non lethal methods. It also means that the covered area is probably an idea you'd want to pursue even if you also wanted to pursue a permit.

 

[member 158781]

Quite a suspenseful tale. So happy your little pullet escaped.

Watch your little gal carefully for signs of shock. Give her warm Gatoraid if she begins to droop.

I will keep a good eye on her tonight. She did take some mealworms and is sleeping now.

 

[member 158781]

I'm sorry. I know that hawks can be awful. I'm glad your bird is safe!


Wanted to say this too after reading the post. Even if it's in the act of attacking your birds shooting one is a federal crime with jail time and up to 50K fines. State law can't override this.

https://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-13.pdfThis is what you need to kill one. In To have it considered you have to include info on;

"What hazing or harassment techniques (e.g., horns, pyrotechnics, propane cannons) have you used to manage or eliminate the problem? Of these tools, how often and how long did you use these deterrents (e.g., number of weeks, months, year(s))?
What habitat management measures (e.g., vegetative barriers, longer grass management, fencing and netting) have you used to discourage depredation by birds?
What cultural practices (e.g., crop selection, crop placement, animal and pet management, feeding schedules, and no-bird-feeding policies) have you established to discourage depredation in the areas you have identified? "

AND

"A depredation permit is not considered a long-term solution for most situations. What long-term measures do you plan to take to eliminate or significantly reduce the continued need for killing or removal of birds, or destroying eggs/nests? Discussing how you will continue to use the non-lethal deterrents described in question 5 above can help with answering this question. (Recall that no permit is needed to remove nests without eggs, except for eagles and endangered birds.) "

It's something to consider seriously. This DOES however mean that you can harass or haze hawks away from your property using most non lethal methods. It also means that the covered area is probably an idea you'd want to pursue even if you also wanted to pursue a permit.

As I mentioned before; I do NOT want to kill it. I will shoot my shotgun for effect and I will keep them safe in the dog kennel.
we have lived here now for 16 years; had coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, eagles and now a hawk going after our animals. The only thing we ever killed was an armadillo because it was digging tunnels in the pasture that can be lethal for my horses. My horses have been attacked by a mountain lion, my cats by a bobcat and the coyotes would love a bite of our dogs.Owls have taken loads of Guineas, eagles have taken chickens. I try to deter them and try to keep my animals safe. I DO NOT KILL the eagles, hawks etc. I know yo2u mean well, but please, no need to mention it any further.

 

[member 158781]

I am so glad she’s ok!! My girl was not so lucky last month. After years of free ranging happily we now have a nesting pair of red tailed hawks on our property. We see them all the time. I am also hoping that they move on in the spring. My girls are not accustomed to being confined to their run and moral is down. Once the hawks move on they will be free again.

Helping you hope they will move to a different area soon.

 

[David61]

Red tailed hawks are abundant here and I see or hear them daily. The squirrels are what the hunt as they are everywhere like rats. I have seen the hawks eyeballing my chickens but i have netted my run so they can only look. I had a peregrine falcon land on the fence of a temporary pen I had my 5 week old chicks in. I spooked it off in time.
If I have been responsibly caring for anything of mine I'm not going to stop caring. SSS not SOS or SOL

 

[member 158781]

So, Today my chickens were in the large dog kennel all day. The wounded chicken is back with them because I’ve removed all the blood and closed up her wounds. (Superglue works wonders) Tonight, she’ll be in the bathroom again because her foot hurts too much to be roosting. the rest will go back in their coop for the night. So daytime is coop. Nighttime is 24x24 covered/roofed kennel. I plan on adapting the kennel now. The large doghouse has to be made taller, almost up to the roof with ventilation between the walls and the roof. It needs to get roosts, poop boards and bedding. It needs a tall door for people. A small door for the chickens. The chainlink fencing has to be covered on the inside with hardware cloth to keep ground predators out too. The roof will take care of hawks, owls and eagles. For now I have placed 3 nesting boxes in the kennel for during the day.

A downside of the kennel is that it’s dirt on a hardware cloth floor to keep digging predators out.
I’m wondering though if there’s any kind of grass that will grow in the shade under a roof. If you know of such grass, please let me know. That would make for a nicer area for them during the day so they can scratch and lay on the grass in stead of digging in dirt. The dirt is only nice for dust baths.

so, all in all now; I’ll have my work cut out for me now. Let’s see if we can keep these girls safe.

 

[member 158781]

UPDATE: I know now what hawk it was. I found a picture of it on the internet. It’s a red-shouldered Hawk. I also found it’s a couple. Male and female. They’re beautiful. I Just wish they would exhibit their beauty elsewhere.